Right Turn, Right Lane...Left Turn, Left Lane

No explanation is necessary for this latest instalment.  Motorists in Calgary seem to struggle with this concept, however. 
 
This lack of intelligence usually occurs at intersection where there are multiple turning lanes, such as the diagram shown to the left. As you can see, the driver in the rightmost turning lane stays to the right, and winds up in the rightmost lane on the cross street.  Unfortunately, what happens far too often is that the idiot on the right cuts you off and turns into the left lane on the cross street.  It has happened to me so frequently that I now EXPECT it to happen every time I enter one of these situations. 

It also happens on simple right-and-left turns, which really pisses me off.  If you check the diagram to the right, the concept of a right turn is pretty easy to digest.  However, some people feel as though they can turn right, and then proceed to drift into the lanes on the left, completely ignoring the fact that there will either be cars turning left into that lane, or that traffic is coming down that cross street in the far lanes.

As I type this, I find that this situation is a lot harder to explain in words than I anticipated.  I'm hoping that you'll understand what I'm trying to portray, and you'll likely realize that you have also encountered idiots like these. 

I'm considering installing a GoPro camera in my car...this way I can show you actual footage of asshat Calgary motorists doing what they do.  Stay tuned for that!

Today's rant is one that I'm certain that most people will share with me.  It's the dreaded "intersection blocker"...one of the most hated breeds of motorists in the entire city.

If you somehow don't know who these inbred numbskulls are, which would surprise me, the pictures to the left should help clear things up.  If you need further clarification, it's quite simple really: 

This is what it looks like to get "blocked"

These are individuals who apparently cannot see the rest of the world past the hood of their car, and somehow cannot see the backed up traffic in the intersection in front of them, nor do they see the side streets to their left or right.  Instead, they proceed forward, void of any sort of common sense, and sit in the middle of the intersection. 

You might not think that's a huge problem, but in rush hour, it's a MAJOR problem.  Because traffic doesn't move that quickly, so they end up sitting in the intersection after their light turns red, and they create a wall for the traffic travelling perpendicular to them, who happen to have the right of way.  Even better...when you honk at them (the international signal for "hey you...fuckwad!"), they turn and glare at you like it's your fault.  Further proof that they clearly have fecal matter where their brains should be.

There are tons of intersections that are notorious for intersection blockers.  Unfortunately, one of them is just down the street from my condo...and because I live on an extended cul-de-sac, it's my only exit.  That being said, probably the most annoying place that this phenomenon always occurs is at the intersection of Eastbound Memorial Drive NE and the on-ramp that runs from Deerfoot Trail northbound.  
 

If you check out my rudimentary diagram below (done in MS Paint) you can kinda see what I'm getting at.  The red line is the path, the yellow squares are the cars that are trying to exit onto Deerfoot south, and they ALWAYS jump into the intersection.  I guess they think that they'll get home 3.47 seconds sooner if they do that.  Problem is, now you're blocking at least one lane of traffic coming from the on-ramp (sometimes all 3 lanes), and that just creates a giant clusterfuck, and if you're like me, some serious road rage.